CHAPTER XI
PARADISE
It was astonishing how quickly that winter of 1916 and '17 passed forthose sojourners in Valhalla in spite of the fact that they were attimes thoroughly uncomfortable. It is not an easy matter for persons,brought up in a modern, steam-heated house with three bath rooms, everyform of convenience and plenty of trained servants, to adapt themselvesto the simplicity of country life and that in its most primitive state.
Hard as the life was it agreed with them, one and all. Douglas and Bobbywalked to school, rain or shine, but their road lay in the uplands wherethe mud rarely got more than ankle deep. Nan and Lucy had to contendwith much more serious conditions, but thanks to their flamingo legsthey got by.
The weather wasn't always bad by any means. There were wonderful clearsparkling days with the ground frozen hard, and then came the snow thatmeant sleigh rides with the Suttons and grand coasting parties.
Mr. Carter was growing very robust from his labors of stopping up cracksand cutting fire wood. He gradually mended the leaks in the roof;puttied in the window panes; replaced the broken hinges and fasteningsto doors and shutters; propped up sagging porch floors; and patched thecracked and fallen plastering.
The Misses Grant viewed his efforts with mingled satisfaction andembarrassment.
"We have intended to do all this for you, Mr. Carter, but Ella was sostubborn about the carpenter. She never would agree to having that newman at Preston, who is really quite capable," Miss Louise would explain.
"Certainly not! We knew nothing about him and have always employed DaveTrigg----"
"But you know perfectly well that Dave Trigg is doubled up withrheumatism," snapped Miss Louise.
"Yes, and you know perfectly well, too, that that man at Preston hasmoved away," retaliated her tall sister, and so on would they wrangle.
"I enjoy doing it," Mr. Carter would assure them. "My only fear is thatI will get the place in such good order that you will raise our rent."
Which sally would delight the souls of the ladies who were in danger ofagreeing about one more thing, and that was the altogether desirabilityof the Carters and the especial desirability of Mr. Carter.
Accepting Mrs. Carter at the extremely high valuation of her patientfamily, they were ever kind and considerate of her. Many were the daintylittle dishes they sent to Valhalla from the great house to tempt thepalate of their semi-invalid tenant, vying with each other in theirattentions.
"An' she jes' sets back an' takes it," Chloe would mutter. "Mis' Carterdone set back so much that settin' back come nachel ter her now.
"'My name is Jimmie An' I take all yer gimme.'
"That's my ol' Mis'."
Chloe and Helen had continued the lessons in reading and writing. Thewhitewashed kitchen walls bore evidence to much hard work on part ofboth teacher and pupil. Chloe had learned to cook many simple dishes andto write and spell all she cooked. By slow stages, so slow they werealmost imperceptible, the girl was becoming an efficient servant. Herwages were raised to eight dollars a month in spite of the remonstrancesof her sister Tempy, who thought she must serve as long as she hadbefore she could make as much.
"Sis Tempy been a-goin' over ter night school at the count's ev'y timeshe gits a chanst but she ain't ter say larned nothin'."
Helen and Chloe were engaged in the delectable task of making mince piesfor Christmas. Chloe had just electrified Helen by writing on the wallof her own accord: "Reseat fer miCe Pize."
"What does she learn?" asked Helen, smiling as she deftly rolled thepastry.
"She say they done started a kinder 'batin' siety an' ain't ter sayfoolin' much with readin' an' writin' an' sich. The secondary ain't sopatient as what you is, an' he uster git kinder worked up whin theniggers wint ter sleep in school."
"I fancy that would be trying."
"They's drillin' 'em now an' they likes that 'cause the secondary donepromised them from the count that some day he'll gib 'em uniforms.Niggers is allus keen on begalia."
"Does Tempy drill, too?"
"Lawsamussy, no! Women folks jes' sets an' watches. Tempy say shedone march aroun' enough fer Miss Ellanlouise, an' as fer flingin'broomsticks--she does enough of that 'thout no German gemmun a-showin'her nothin' 'bout how ter do it."
"Do they drill with broomsticks?"
"Yassum, that's what they tell me, but they do say----"
"Say what?" asked Helen as the colored girl hesitated.
"They don't say nothin'!"
"You started to tell me something they say about broomsticks."
"I ain't started ter tell a thing!" and Chloe shut her mouth very tightand rolled her eyes back in a way she had that made you think she wasgoing to turn herself inside out.
"What do they debate about?" asked Helen amused at Chloe's suddenreserve.
"They 'spute 'bout the pros an' cons of racin'."
"Horse racing?"
"I ain't so sho', but from what Sis Tempy done tol' me it mought be an'agin it moughtn't."
"Does Tempy debate?"
"Sis Tempy! Yi! Yi!" and Chloe went off in peals of laughter. "Sis Tempycan't argyfy with nothin' but a rollin' pin. She done put up a rightgood argymint only las' Sunday with her beau, that big slue-footednigger, Jeemes Hanks."
"What was the argument about?"
"Jeemes he done say he's jes' as good as any white folks an' somebetter'n a heap er them. He say his vote don't count none an' he ain'table ter buy no good lan' jes' 'cause de white folks won't sell him noneup clost ter they homes,--an' Sis Tempy ups an' tells him that his voteain't no count 'cause he ain't no count hisse'f. She tells him thatbuzzards lays buzzard eggs an' buzzard eggs hatches out mo' buzzards;an' that made him hoppin' mad 'cause that nigger Jeemes sho' do setgreat sto' by hisse'f."
"Does James feel that white people ought to sell him land whether theywant to or not?"
"'Zactly! He been wantin' ter buy a strip from Miss Ellanlouise upyander by the clarin', not so fur from the great house. They's gladenough ter sell some er that rocky lan' off over by the gravel pit, butthey don't want no niggers fer clost neighbors."
"And what did Tempy say?"
"She never said nothin'. She jes' up'n driv him out'n the cabin with therollin' pin. She tells him while she's a-lickin' him, though, that he'sa-larnin' his a-b-c's upside down at the count's school an' fer her partshe ain't a-goin' back."
"Do you think the count is responsible for James's nonsense?" askedHelen. "I can't see how he got such notions from a gentleman like thecount."
"I ain't a-sayin'! I ain't a-sayin'!" and once more Chloe's mouth wentshut with a determined click and she rolled her great eyes.
Helen thought no more about it. Darkies were funny creatures, anyhow. Ofcourse it was hard on James Hanks if he wanted to buy good ground and noone would sell it to him, but on the other hand one could hardly expectthe Misses Grant to sell off their ancestral acres just to accommodatethe slue-footed beau of their cook.
Miss Ella and Louise were entirely unreconstructed as far as the coloredpeople were concerned. They were kind to them when they were ill andhelped them in many ways, but they never for an instant lost sight ofthe fact that they were of an inferior race nor did they let the darkieslose sight of the fact. They were not very popular with their negroneighbors although they were mutually dependent. Grantly had to dependon colored labor and many families among them got their entire livingfrom Grantly.
The medicine chest at the great house furnished castor oil and paregoricfor all the sick pickaninnies for miles around; Miss Louise had to makeup great jars of her wintergreen ointment so that the aching joints ofmany an old aunty or uncle might find some ease; while Miss Ella'swillow bark and wild cherry tonic warded off chills and fevers from themosquito infested districts down in the settlement in the swamps.
The older members of the community of negroes appreciated the realgoodness and kindness of the two old ladies and overlooked theiroverbearing ways, but the younger generation, who cared not for theointme
nt or tonic, could see nothing but arrogance in the reallyharmless old spinsters.
Most of the former slaves, who had at one time belonged to Grantly, hadpassed away. The few who remained were old and feeble and these hadmany arguments with the younger ones, trying to make them see the realkindness and goodness of Miss Ellanlouise.
"You done got fat on castor ile out'n the chist at Grantly whin you wasa sickly baby," old Uncle Abe Hanks would say to his refractory grandsonJeemes. "An' you an' yo' paw befo' you was pulled from the grabe byparrygoric from dat same chist, an' now you set up here an' say: 'Downwith southe'n 'ristocrats!' Humph! You'd better be a-sayin': 'Down withthe castor ile an' parrygoric!' 'Down with the good strong soup an' fatback Miss Ellanlouise done sent yo' ol' gran'pap las' winter whin therewarn't hide or har er his own flesh an' blood come nigh him!' Yes! Theywent down all right--down the red lane. You free niggers is got thenotion you kin live 'thout the 'ristocrats. Why don't you go an' live'thout 'em then? Nobody ain't a-holdin' you. As fer me--gib me'ristocrats ev'y time!"
"The Count de Lestis is as 'ristocratical as those ol' tabbies," thegrandson would reply sullenly, "and he doesn't treat a colored gemmanlike he was a houn' dog."
"'Ristocratical much! That furrener? You ain't got good sinse, boy. Thatthere pretty little count didn't even come from Virginny an' all the'ristocrats done come from Virginny one time er anudder. I done hear Ol'Marster say dat time an' time agin."
"The count say he gonter sell us all the lan' we want. An' he say hegonter fetch over some nice, kind white folks ter live neighbors to us;white folks what is jes' as good as these white folks 'roun' here butwho ain't a-gonter hol' theyselves so proudified like."
"Yes! I kin see him now tu'nnin' loose a lot er po' white Guinnies whatwill take the bread out'n the mouth er the nigger. Them po' whitefurreners kin live on buzzard meat, an' dey don' min' wuckin' day in an'day out, an' if'n dey gits a holt in the lan' the nigger'll hab ter go.As fer a-livin' long side er niggers,--I tell you now, son, that thewhite folks what don't min' a-livin' long side er niggers is wuss'nniggers, an' I can't say no mo' scurrilous thing about them thanthat--wuss'n niggers!"
A strong discontent was certainly brewing among the younger generationof negroes. Conversations similar to the one between Uncle Abe Hanksand James were not uncommon in the settlement that lay midway betweenGrantly and Weston. This settlement was known by the exceedinglyappropriate name of Paradise. There were about a dozen cabins there,some of them quite comfortable and neat, others very poor and forlorn.
There was a church, the pride of their simple hearts because it wasbuilt of brick; also a ramshackled old building known as "The Club."This club had originally been a tobacco barn, built, of course, withoutwindows, for the curing of tobacco. In converting it into a club house,windows had been cut in the sides but with no fixed plan. Wherever amember decided it would be nice to have a window, a window was cut. Notwo were the same size or on the same level. Most of them were more orless on the slant, giving the building the appearance of having survivedan earthquake.
In this club house the secret societies met to hold their mysteriousrites. Here they had their festivals and bazaars and sometimes, when theeffects of protracted meetings had worn off and the ungodly were againto the fore, they would have dances that threatened to bring down thewalls and roof of the rickety building. It was whispered through thecounty that a blind tiger was also operated there but this was notproven. Certainly there was much drunkenness at times in Paradise,considering the state was dry.
Count de Lestis was very popular in Paradise. He always had a kind wordfor old and young. Then, too, he had work for them and paid them well.His fame spread and actually there was a boom in Paradise. Other negroesin settlements near by were anxious to move to Paradise. Town lots werein demand and the club had a waiting list for membership. The church wasfull to overflowing when on Sunday Brother Si took his stand in thelittle pulpit.
Night school at Weston was something new and something to do, so thedarkies flocked to it. Herz, the secretary, had his hands full trying toteach the mob that congregated three times a week to sit at the feet oflearning. He did get angry occasionally when his pupils, tired out nodoubt after a hard day's work, would fall asleep with audibleattestations.